


Unravel; Start Again

by amaresu



Category: The Losers - All Media Types
Genre: Community: fic_promptly, Gen, Knitting, Pre-Movie, character backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-04
Updated: 2012-12-04
Packaged: 2017-11-20 07:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/582607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaresu/pseuds/amaresu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>fic_promptly prompt: The Losers ~ Roque ~ his grandma taught him how to knit</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unravel; Start Again

When he's fifteen William's Grandma falls down and breaks her hip. It's the latest in a series of accidents that have his parents and his aunts and uncles talking quietly about how she shouldn't be living alone. Aunt Susan has a mother-in-law room above her garage and Uncle James has room in his basement for storage, but no one has the time or money to look after her, let alone get her a place in an assisted living facility. William listens carefully to the quiet arguments and makes a decision.

He's the oldest boy out of his cousins and Samantha, the oldest of the girls, is far too smart for William to let her give up her chance at college. The choice is easy and so he drops out of school and tells his parents he'll take care of Grandma. His mama cries and his dad curses, but they both have something like pride in their eyes and William knows he's made the right decision. It's all settled by the time his Grandma gets out of the hospital.

The first time they're alone together she looks at him from where she's sitting on the couch and sniffs, "If you're going to drop out of school to look after me you're going to get your GED."

The way she looks at him has him nodding his head before he can stop himself. They fall into an easy enough routine. He sleeps out on the couch in case she needs him at night and in the morning he helps Aunt Susan get his cousins off to school before running errands that days errands. After lunch they sit in her little living room and he studies for the GED test while she knits the arsenal of hats, mittens, and scarves that she'll give out to the family come fall.

Once her hip heals he moves back home, but she still needs help. She's too old to make it down the rickety stairs by herself so William still finds himself spending his days with her and that's okay. The entire family chips in to make sure he has spending money every week and when he passes the test and gets his certificate they throw him a party like he actually graduated.

The first day after though he sits on the floor in front of the coffee table and can't figure out what to do with his afternoons anymore. His Grandma looks at him and she has the same look in her eyes as she did when she declared he was getting his GED, "Grab some needles and get over here."

He wants to protest, but he's been secretly fascinated by the never ending pieces that she seems to churn out. He listens to her directions carefully before casting on his first row. He's slow, his weave is uneven, and he has to unravel the entire thing three times before he manages something that actually resembles a scarf. His Grandma just nods at his progress and gives him tips for keeping the tension even, so he starts another one.

Eventually she teaches him cables and double points and circulars and together they make an even more impressive stack of winter wear. After that she teaches him how to make socks and even one, very bad, sweater. Sometimes she'll ask him, trying to pretend it's just an absentminded question, what he plans to do with his life. He just smiles at her and says, "I'm taking care of you," and tries not to notice the look in her eyes. They both know she's an old lady, but if he doesn't want to talk about it she's isn't going to force him.

Three weeks before his 18th birthday she has a stroke. It happens while they're racing to see who can finish a sock first, trash talking each other's technique with NPR on the radio. He rides in the ambulance, the half finished sock left lying on the floor. After the funeral they let him take what he wants to remember her by and no one blinks an eye when he collects her knitting supplies and carries them home. 

The day he turns eighteen he walks to the Army recruitment office and enlists. This time there's just sadness behind his mama's tears. When he finishes basic though he has her send him some of the knitting supplies because he knows he looks like a badass and no one is going to give him trouble about it. At least not more than once.

He builds up stockpiles of hats, scarves, mittens, gloves, and the occasional pair of socks to take home on leave. He damn near bursts with pride the first time he makes a tiny blanket in the softest yarn he can find in purple and pink. Samantha tells him it's perfect when she calls him from the hospital three months later. More blankets follow and he's hard pressed to keep up with the need for winter wear as the years go by.

He doesn't take his needles with him on missions. They're for his down time; the time when he doesn't have to worry about killing people or protecting his team. His last set of socks are still sitting on their needles when they walk out of the jungle in Bolivia. He figures his mama will get them when the Army sends her his stuff. He hopes someone else picks them up even as his fingers itch to feel the smooth metal and soft yarn.


End file.
